Obsessions
by DolbyDigital
Summary: In the end, he decided, whilst the lie had been comforting it was best not to obsess over something that could never become reality.


Walking Silently through the deserted halls of Hogwarts hidden under his Godfather's old Cloak and holding the Marauders Map out in front of him. He was using the flickering lights of the sparse torches to see by, as even with the Map showing him everyone's location within the Castle he didn't think his reaction time would be fast enough to cast a quick 'Nox' before someone saw the disembodied light of his wand.

He continued on his way back to the Gryffindor Tower, alternating between looking at the Map and watching where he was going whilst trying to keep his footsteps light and his breathing steady. It wouldn't do to get caught on his way _back_ from his first real midnight excursion at Hogwarts.

He hadn't told his friends about this as they would have insisted upon coming with him and he had wanted to test out the Cloak and Map on his own first. He knew it was selfish, but they were _his_; when Harry had been a student at Hogwarts they had reminded him of the father he had never had the chance to know, and now they were able to make Teddy feel closer to his own father too.

Hearing the echoing sounds of heavy footsteps walking languidly in his direction, Teddy began to panic. The stillness of the castle at night, coupled with the late hour, had caused Teddy's mind to wader and he'd forgotten to check the Map every so often. For a brief moment he regretted not bringing his friends along with him, if only so that he didn't end up with his first detention being without friends there to complain about it with.

Taking deep breaths and trying to ignore the feeling of his heart being in his throat, he attempted to think the situation through logically. He knew that unless he did something incredibly stupid – like trip over his own feet kind of stupid – then there was no way he would be seen, but the corridor was narrow. If he stayed where he was then the prefect or teacher would just walk straight into him.

He hadn't ever been in this corridor as, judging by how close together the doors were, it was mainly used for storage. The first door he tried was locked, as was the second one, and the third door led to a broom closet so small he would never have been able to fit – no matter how hard he tried. The next door was also locked, but the fifth door led to what appeared to be an abandoned room.

He had just thrown himself through the door when the Slytherin prefect walked past. With a scowl on his face he stepped into the dusty room, eyes sweeping across the expanse of it. Teddy had backed up against the far wall, pressing himself into the cold, unforgiving surface and holding his breath. It made his shudder slightly when the older boy seemed to look directly at him, but the prefects gaze went right through Teddy and continued on to the rest of the room.

Seemingly satisfied with his search of the room the prefect backed out slowly, obviously still slightly suspicious. He closed the door behind him with a loud _thud_ before continuing on with his prefect duties. Teddy remained where he was hidden until long after the sound of the footsteps had finally receded, just trying to catch his breath.

His breath still coming out in shallow gasps, Teddy ripped the Cloak from over his head and dropped it unceremoniously to the floor. He bent over, palms braced on his knees and still clutching the Map in his right hand, trying to regain control of his breathing through his hysterical laughter.

Once he'd finally regained control of himself, he let his eyes wander across the room. It looked like a disused classroom, which was odd considering it was located amongst what could only be storage rooms and closets. '_Although,' _he reasoned to himself, '_this was Hogwarts, and not everything stayed in the same place – even when it seemed like it should.'_

There were desks and chairs piled up against one wall, years worth of dust covering all the visible surfaces. The only other thing in the room was a large sheet covered object leant against the wall next to Teddy. He carefully put the Map down on top of his Cloak, making sure that he could still see it – he didn't want anymore surprises.

Slowly, he reached out to the sheet, clenched a handful of the old fabric, and pulled it down in one fluid motion. The clouds of dust that this move produced caused his eyes to water and his throat to seize up. He held his arm up to his face and coughed into the sleeve of his robe, tears still trailing down his cheeks.

He stared in astonishment as a full length mirror was revealed, '_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi' _engraved into the gold frame. His eyes drifted slowly to the rest of the mirror, and the sight reflected in the glass caused his breath to catch in his throat.

Staring back at him through the dusty and slightly scratched surface of the mirror were his parents. He looked behind him – more out of reflex than actually expecting to see them there – but when he saw nothing there he turned back to face the mirror. A quick glance at the map had confirmed that what his eyes were telling him was the truth; his parents only seemed to exist in the mirror.

He sat on the threadbare carpet that covered the majority of the room, making sure not to sit on one of the patches where to cracked concrete showed through, and just stared at the mirror. His reflection sat with him, and his parents soon followed.

He'd seen pictures of them both during various stages of their lives from childhood to just before their deaths, but this felt so much more real. If he didn't look behind him he could actually imagine that they were there with him, that they'd always been there and would always be there. He could imagine the home they would have had together if only things had been different.

He reached out to touch the cold glass of the mirror over his mother's cheek. Her grin widened and she hugged the mirror version of himself, her hair changing from a bright pink to a pale red – his own hair changing colour with it.

Both his parents seemed younger than they had in a lot of the pictures he had seen, more relaxed and open. It was easier this way for him to see himself in them; his eyes had the same slightly feline tilt to them as his mum, but were the same shade of amber.

He sat and watched them for so long that he had completely lost all feeling in his legs, but it still felt as though the hours had ticked by like minutes and he couldn't say for sure how long it had been. He knew he had to leave soon; it was a miracle he hadn't been caught yet and he really shouldn't push his luck.

He stood slowly, nearly falling as he regained feeling in his legs along with a load of pins and needles, and watched in the mirror as his hair changed once again, this time to show all the different shades of blue. His parents remained seated, sad smiles on their faces.

In the end, he decided, whilst the lie had been comforting it was best not to obsess over something that could never become reality.


End file.
